- Huh.
I got a little emotional when you asked me the question.
(light music)
- Being a multi-racial Asian
affects everything about my life, my culture is a mix of
not just being black and Asian,
but also there's like a third thing
that's not either of those.
^- I haven't felt like I really fit in
^with either one of my cultures,
because I didn't really look like my mom or my dad.
- On one hand, I was able to experience
some white privilege, and on the other hand,
I experienced certain
prejudices and stereotypes of also being Asian.
- We grew up being referred to as "Hapa-haole,"
^and as I grew it became more of a widely accepted term
^for anyone who was part Asian.
It's been appropriated by a broader audience.
I have mixed feelings when I hear the term, "hapa,"
at least there's a way to acknowledge
that not everybody is just one thing or another.
- People say, "Oh, you're white,
because you're not acting black,
or because these things that you do aren't black,
they must be white."
And that's annoying because I'm not white either.
- Often when I meet people,
the very first question I get is "Where are you from?"
- It confuses people, because they usually associate
being American with being white.
They don't really know how to react,
and it usually comes off as offensive.
- They think that it'll give them some insight
in to who I am as a person,
my cultural identity is a part of me,
but it doesn't affect who I am really as a person.
- I was once on a date with a guy,
and he asked the "What are you?" question.
So I explained my ethnicity,
and he was still kind of confused, and then,
mixing up the different types of Asian,
and was like, "Oh, is your mom Chinese?"
And I was like, I just said I was Japanese.
- I was just like having lunch with one of my friends,
and he introduced me to another friend of his,
who also is from Thailand.
He was like, "Oh yeah, this is my friend, Aaron. He's Thai."
And
She was like, "No."
It was just annoying that that was the way that we met.
- It not only makes me feel uncomfortable,
but it makes me feel as if I'm sort of "other,"
and it just sort of just disconnects me,
and feels like I'm taken out of the equation,
and put in a specific box,
and it feels really lonely.
- There are times where it feels like the questions
reflect their own inner stereotypes or prejudice.
And there is the opportunity to help people through that,
and help correct some of those misconceptions.
- When I think about my grandmother,
who survived and was able to endure
so much when she was there, and then
come to this country not speaking English,
and be successful, and have a great life,
and pass all of that on to me,
I feel very very proud.
- I'm proud to be multiracial,
because I have two different cultures that I'm a part of.
I'm no longer ashamed of not looking a certain way.
^I feel like being multiracial is unique in its own sense.
- More and more I'm seeing more people
representing us out in the world, as far as
actors or musicians or activists.
To see other people who look like me,
and have had the same experiences as me,
making big changes out in the world is really inspiring.
- When my parents were young parents,
it was still pretty rare to see mixed-race couples,
people would ask my mom, "Oh, are you babysitting?"
I'm proud of my parents for following their hearts
and loving someone who there may have been
social pressure to not love, and then also
raising us with the understanding
that love is not about a race, it's about who you love.
- If I could give a message to someone just like me,
I would tell them to not be ashamed of who they are,
and to love all parts of themself,
and where they come from.
- You have to define for yourself
what it means to be mixed race.
Your individual experience of your own culture
and your own family, your own history,
and how all of that affects you today is totally up to you.
- You are special and different but in a really awesome way,
and if anyone tries to make you feel
like that difference is not okay,
or is other or is
bad in any way,
you know just don't listen to them.
- There would be periods in my life
where I would try really hard
to be just one part of myself.
So there were phases where just I would try
to just be very white, and then other times
where I would try more to be like the Asian kids.
And I think that's a part of finding your identity
when you are mixed race.
- You also need to find people,
whether they're multiracial or not,
who will celebrate you for who you are,
and help you in your discovery of who you are,
and who you want to be.
- Sometimes when we talk about people who are multiracial,
we talk about them as being part something,
or being half something, and I know it's just words,
but at the same time I feel like we should embrace the idea,
that though your blood quantum may be
a certain amount of another group, it doesn't make you less.
You are a full Hawaiian.
You are a full Asian.
You are a full European.
You should be able to feel like a full member
of all those different parts.
(soft piano music)